The Country of Harding
by FrozenRain
Summary: Isa and her brother Will set out on what starts to be an adventure, to stop a war that hasn't started. What happens will surprise everyone. This is the still the same story but I changed the country's name to Harding instead of Endwing,hence the diff titl
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Adventures  
  
I leaned against the cold stone, pulling my cloak around me tightly. I gazed at the stars, twinkling brightly. It was cool, clear night, one good for clearing out all of the confused jumble of thoughts in my head. I mean, I don't get it, I hate all these suitors trying to get me to marry them. I hate being a princess! All of these guys all of the sudden are really interested in me, just because I am of age. They probably wouldn't care if I looked like a pig, which could be good....in away. Yet, I don't look like a pig, and I don't want to marry some guy who just wants to marry me because of my status. It's so freakin' annoying! I don't want to marry some heartless cow who has never done a kind thing in his life that doesn't benefit himself at all, really, I don't want to marry someone like that...ugh. Actually, I don't think that calling these men cows gives justice to the nice cows, roaches maybe? No, roaches are less greasy looking than they are.  
  
I began shivering. I climbed back inside my window and pulled out a pair of my twin brother's breeches, and a nice shirt. I then pulled on my boots and my green cloak, carefully clasping it with my leaf brooch. When I climbed back out my window I wasn't surprised to find a figure sitting about 3 feet from my window. I went over and sat down next to my brother, running my long fingers through my curly strawberry hair, which was resting on my shoulders, short for a woman. My brother glanced at me when I sat down.  
  
"Can't sleep?" He asked, laughter in his eyes.  
  
"Nope, you can't either?"  
  
"I wish. What's bothering you Is?" He asked, using his nickname for me.  
  
"All those guys wanting to marry me, just because I am the princess." I said, sighing.  
  
"Puh, you should see the girls, they're worse, much worse." He said, grinning.  
  
"Well, Will, I guess you have a point." I said, grinning back, "but you like all of the girls, most of them aren't airheads, like the men."  
"Whatever, of course I have a point, I am the smart twin, aren't I?" He said, shaking with laughter, making his hair, the same color as mine, fall into his eyes.  
  
I smiled and pulled one of his ringlets rather hard. Our hair was one well known thing about us, everyone seemed to find our hair attractive. I just find my hair annoying.  
  
"What's bothering you?" I asked, glancing at him sideways, he had a troubled expression on his face.  
  
"This whole thing about war, I like Tortal and I don't want to go against them in war. They seem to think that we want to fight them, or that we have something to use against them. It's like we've been framed, and I have no idea what we're being framed for." He said, seriously.  
  
"And of course, father wants to rush into things because they hit his honor majorly. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that father only wants to go to war to protect his honor." I said.  
  
"Is, sadly, I believe that what you just said is true." Will said, disappointment in his voice.  
  
I looked at him, surprise on my face, "Are you sure?"  
  
"That's what has been bothering me. I can't think of Father's motive, that's the only reason that I can see, all of his other reasons are stupid and obviously bluffed."  
  
"We've got to stop this! We can't go to war without even having a cause!" I hissed.  
  
"Yes, I know, but how? Father won't listen to reason. The only way we can stop this war is by figuring out who framed us. I think that valuable items or something were stolen from Tortal, obviously something very important, and some how we got framed for it."  
  
"But, how? And who would do something like that?" I wondered.  
  
Then it suddenly dawned on me. It has to be Armstrong, I thought, and then I voiced my thoughts aloud.  
  
"Armstrong, Will! That's the only country that we are constantly fighting against, we're on good terms with everyone else. Armstrong is also Tortal's enemy, it just has to be them! How would they frame us though?" I said.  
  
"I think you're right Is....hmmm, but how would they?"  
  
We both lasped into thought, thinking hard. Then it suddenly hit us, at exactly the same time.  
  
"Will!!! Tortal invited us to send an ambassador a while ago, but remember, we didn't because father was away visiting the Karse Islands. We sent an apology, but then there was a huge blizzard and our messenger got snowed in, maybe that letter never got to Tortal." I said, taking a break so I could breath, Will cut in.  
  
"Yes, then Armstrong could have gotten an impersonator to play the part as our ambassador. Then he could have stolen some special thing of Tortal's, or done something horrible, and then high-tailed it out of there. We of course would get the blame." Will looked at me expectantly.  
  
"I think we're right, Will, but we don't have any proof. What do we do?" I asked.  
  
Will looked at me and grinned. I smiled back, nodding.  
  
"I'll write a letter to Father, you go get your clothes, and a sword. I'll get my daggers."  
  
Will jumped up, grinning. He pulled me to my feet.  
  
"Hurry up, Is. Let's get going." He said.  
  
We both ran to our rooms, jumping through our windows, gathering our things. I scrawled out a sloppy letter and left it for Father. Meeting Will back outside. 


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey begins

*****  
  
Thanks for your reviews y'all! And don't worry I will be more discriptive in this chapter! And I've changed Isabel's nickname to Isa, so it's easier to understand, sorry about that... Well read and review, have fun! haha, yeah... Disclaimer: Tortal and all that stuff is not my orginal work, and I didn't invent it, but Isa and everything is from my stuff. (I don't know if we have to have one of these, but I don't want to get in trouble or anything so....yeah) ******  
  
Chapter 2  
  
I looked down at my finished note. It was kind of bad, but oh well. I took a satchel and put another pair of breeches, another shirt and stuffed it all into my satchel. In a few minutes Will climbed silently through my window, carrying a satchel identical to the one I had on my back. He was also wearing a dark blue cloak with a blue leaf clasp, identical to my own except mine was emerald green. I smiled at him and we silently tip-toed out the door. He was about a head taller than me, which was extremely tall, considering the fact that I was taller than most men, almost all men. I loved surprising men with my height, they always expected me to be really short and extremely skinny. I was practically the opposite. I wasn't fat, no definately not, but I was a little smaller than the average woman, so not skinny to a scary extent but, I guess healthy. Will was a little bigger than me, he had more musle, but for a woman I do have a lot of musle. Father and Mother thought that it would be best to train me in the use of daggers and bows and arrows. For my protection, they claimed that, "You never know when an assasin from an enemy will try to kill off the heirs to throne, you need to be able to protect yourself when you're alone." Will and I had heard that speech so many times that when ever Mother and Father chose to remind us we would mouth it with them.  
  
"Ready, Isa?" Will asked, motioning to the door.  
  
"Yeah, let's go to the kitchen first." I said, grinning.  
  
We were very familiar with the palace at night. We had snuck to so many places, especially the kitchens, that by the time we were 10 we could avoid the guards without worry, and no one except us new about these 'midnight trips' that we constantly took at night.  
  
Our experienced feet made no sound on the stone floor as we traveled noiselessly down the many dark passages of the castle. Finally after about 5 minutes we reached the kitchens. We raided the pantry, taking rolls, cheese, and sausage, then we wrapped them up in cloth, and preceded to stuff the whole lot into our satchels. I took two canteens, handing one to Will. We filled them up with some left over water from supper. Then, using the kitchen door to the outside, we snuck to the stables, sticking to the shadows. We slipped through the door and began tacking our horses. The stableman didn't stir, he was very used to our random horsebackriding at extremely odd times, since we seemed to tend to ride out to town at night and go to taverns.  
  
In the taverns people didn't care who you were, they just treated you like anyone else. When Will and I were too annoyed with being caught up with royalty we escaped to one particular tavern the most, it was called the Dancing Falcon. The people there weren't particularly the kind of people that a prince and princess should befriend, considering the fact that they were all thieves. Though thieves they were also spies, and they would be familiar with what really happened in Tortal. Therefore, Will and I had decided to stop there first and tell Jay, (the kind of leader of everyone there) what we were planning to do, and see if he knew anything.  
  
We finished tacking the horses and snuck out of the door, and out of a side gate that everyone seemed to have forgotten about. Once we had slipped through the gate we kicked our horses to a canter, riding towards the Dancing Falcon.  
  
Jay was in a side room that had it's own desk, and he was probably going through reports. We walked in, grinning at Jay. He looked up, his dark eyes seemed to pierce through us, then he shook his head, his blonde hair swinging with the movement.  
  
"So, you're running away to Tortal, trying to save the alliance, aye?" Jay asked.  
  
I wasn't surprised that he knew this, and neither was Will.  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked, just for the spite of it.  
  
"Well, I didn't until you walked in, but you both are wearing traveling clothes and I know that you both have been worried lately that we will have to go to war. Yes, I know what really happened in Tortal, and you can solve it. Before you go to the Royal Palace, stop at a tavern called the Dancing Dove, I have a few connections there, and they will tell you what you want to know. I've already sent word ahead that you're coming. They'll be expecting you." Jay said.  
  
How he knew to send ahead I wasn't going to ask, but I did want to know about "his connections".  
  
"Who exactly is this 'connection'," I asked, curious.  
  
"My cousin, he runs a similar tavern, just like mine." He said, grinning, "You'll be able to find it, just follow the road to the palace, alright?"  
  
We were used to his dismissals and took this as one of them. We walked out of the tavern and climbed onto our horses, urging them to a trot, we reached the edge of the city and traveled the remainder of the night, until we were 5 hours away from the city. We slept for 2 hours and ate, not stopping until night. Then we thought it would be safe to sleep for the whole night.  
  
We continued traveling in this style, traveling all day, eating while riding, and only stopping after sunset, until we reached the border between Harding and Tortal. We had rode our horses hard for 5 days, and after crossing the border we decided to stop at the closest inn and have a good nights sleep.  
  
I gazed over at the land in front of us.  
  
"Will, this is so strange. I would have thought Tortal would look different somehow, but really it's just like home." I said, watching the fields wave in the wind.  
  
"Yeah, you're right. It's a little unnerving, hunh?" Will said.  
  
"Definately." I agreed.  
  
"Well, lets get going."  
  
We rode until evening, then we found a small town with a nice inn, and stopped. The stableman came out immediatly and took our horses, and they had 2 rooms open and supplied us with a warm meal and comfortable bed. A very uneventful day, compared to the next. 


	3. Chapter 3: Tortal

I think this is chapter 3...I not sure, so sorry if it's not.... I like this chapter.... and ya'll the journey went by really fast and I'm sorry if you don't like that but the journey is boring and I want everything to happen in tortal not on the way there. so thanks for bearing with me through the boring parts, it gets better now!! I like this part....hehe tooddles~  
  
Chapter 3  
Tortal  
  
The next morning we woke up at dawn and packed up all of our supplies. We went to the common room and got rolls and cheese from a sleepy servent in the process of cleaning mugs. We walked out to the stables balancing our haversacks and eating at the same time. The stable boy jumped up eagerly and saddled our horses. I tossed him a coin for his speed and Will and I climbed up on our horses and continued on our way.  
  
"So how far is Tortal from here?" I asked Will.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that we will be there by the afternoon."  
  
"Great, then I guess we should find that tavern, the Dancing Dove was it?"  
  
"Yeah, well let's get going." Will urged his horse into a gentle trot and I followed his example.  
  
Around midday they reached the outskirts of the city. A tall wall seemed to wrap itself around the huge city. When they finally reached the gates the 2 gaurds ushered them in, not even questioning them.  
  
"I bet that if they knew who we were they wouldn't have just waved us in like that." I said, grinning at Will.  
  
"Yeah, seriously." a voice at my horse's shoulder agreed.  
  
I looked down startled. A man was standing, looking up at me through a curtain of blonde hair, he had startling green eyes.  
  
"Hey, you must be Jay's cousin." I said, passing a look with Will, who grinned at me.  
  
"We figured you'd find us," Will commented dryly.  
  
"Well, you figured right! I'm Jeff, I'm in the same business as my cousin Jay is, he asked me to keep an eye on you while you were here, and me and my friends will do just that! Now, first line of business, we want you two to go to the palace as royalty, which you are of course, but you don't look like royalty in those clothes now do you? So to the tailer's right now, you will be appearing at the castle tomorrow morning. Jay some how convinced you're father that you two are doing the right thing, so he hasn't sent people to come and drag you out of here....yet. He wrote me a letter saying that if you two put one foot, one toe out of line he would come himself and take you home. Jay also convinced you're father to send a peace treaty, and a letter which I have, that states that under the Goddess herself that the letter concerning the envoy never made it out of our country and that we have his dead body and the unopened letter to prove it. He claimes in the letter that he sent his own two children to represent his "trust" of Tortal." At this last part Jeff snorted, and I laughed.  
  
"Ah, here's the tailer's." Jeff said, motioning to a small building close to the looming castle walls.  
  
He lead the way inside. The inside of the house was considerable better looking than the outside. A plump older woman and a young woman greeted them.  
  
"Hello you two, you look exactly alike, has anyone ever told you that?" The plump woman asked.  
  
"Well...yeah, we're twins." Will said, giving the woman a strange look.  
  
"Of course ye are! Jeff put their horses in the stables, and bring their things, they are staying here, correct? Not at that old tavern of yours!" She said.  
  
"Yes, mother, no they are staying here tonight." Jeff walked out of the door trying to reserve what dignity he had left.  
  
Will caught my eye and I grinned at him.  
  
"Oh my goodness, how rude of me! I'm Besty and this is my daughter Alanna, named after the knight of course. Let's get you two in a bath, and then I'll find some fancy clothes for you to go to the castle of course." Besty said.  
  
"oh, er, I'm Isa and this is Will. And, I would really enjoy a bath!" I said looking grateful.  
  
"Good, good." Besty said, "Alanna, show them their baths and rooms."  
  
Alanna ushered them silently through a door down a small corrider to two bedrooms across from each other, each with a screened area and a bath full of hot water. I thanked her, closed the door, yanked off my clothes and jumped into the bath, covering my body in soap washing everything from the hair on my head to my toes, scrubbing off all of the dirt out of my hair.  
  
Finally I dragged myself out of the bath and wrapped the robes waiting for me. I rubbed my strawberry hair, and it immediatly became ringlety. I walked out from behind the screen to find Alanna waiting for me, standing in front of the bed, which had 15 elegant dresses waiting to be tried on.  
  
"Hi, here's some underclothing for you to wear." She handed me soft under garments, and I went back behind the screen and hastly but on all of the stuff, adjusting the top slightly smaller. It was kind of low, but I figured it was for all types of dresses. I walked back out into the room, and Alanna began explaining the dresses, handing me the first one which was a deep blue, it wasn't silk but it was extremely soft. The front had light blue laces starting at the waist and going up to the top of the dress. It was very pretty. I slipped it on and laced up the front tying it in a small bow.  
  
"I see you know how to deal with the latest fashions, many people have no idea how to even put on the under garments, much less the dress itself." Alanna said, smiling.  
  
"Even though dresses have never been one of my favorite passtimes to learn about my mother made sure that I always kept up with the latest fashions, she'd consider it an embarassment if I didn't." I said, shrugging.  
  
"Well, I think that was very wise of your mother. So, how do you like this dress? We picked the right size. You're small waist will make many women despise you, and men like you." She stated matter of factly.  
  
"No, no one would despise me because of how I look, I look to much like my brother." I said, unlacing the dress.  
  
"You look like you're brother would if he was a girl, which isn't a bad thing, that's a very good thing. You both have lovely eyelashes, I envy them." Alanna said, handing me a deep green dress, which matched perfectly with my eyes, it seemed to be the most elegant dress on the bed and I fell in love with it immediatly. It had small little saphires on the hem at the top and at the very bottom of the dress which touched the floor slightly. This dress was laced in the back instead of the front and it was silk. A ball gown. The sleeves were long and small saphires formed a vine winding itself from the end of each sleeve around the neck and back. The delicate leaves made it look quite real.  
  
"When will I need THIS?" I asked as Alanna laced up the back and tied it. I twirled around. The dress fit me perfectly, flowing over my hips and spreading out wonderfully.  
  
"It's wonderful." I breathed.  
  
"Well, they will probably have a ball for you two, if they accept the treaty, and it will be a winter ball of course. So you will need an appropriate dress. It looks quite lovely, if I do say so myself." Alanna said happily.  
  
I tried on the rest of the clothes and then Alanna and I put them all into a trunk that Jeff had provided, along with more under garments. We left out two dresses, a pale yellow one with roses and the bottom and a simple light blue dress with pink flowers on the bottom hem, which was very light and comfortable. I slipped on the blue dress and walked across the hall to Will's room and tapped on the door. Will opened it and looked at me, his eyes widening.  
  
"Wow, you're wearing a dress! Why?"  
  
"Shut up, Will! I wore dresses at home.....occasionally..."  
  
"Ha! Yeah! More like never!" he said, grinning widely at me.  
  
"You seem to have forgotten how hard I can punch!" I said hitting him hard in the shoulder.  
  
"Oww!! You jerk! I'll get you back when you least expect it!"  
  
"Yeah...right....Jeff invited us to eat dinner with him at his tavern. He said to meet us outside now. Let's go." I said, pulling Will out of his room.  
  
We walked outside into the failing light and found Jeff leaning against the side of the house, he motioned us silently, and we followed him down the road leading to the castle. A little ways down they came to a tavern with a sign sticking out labeled the Dancing Dove.  
  
"My second home!" Jeff sighed.  
  
"It looks...ah...great.." Will said, looking at me he whispered, "It's exactly like Jay's tavern."  
  
I grinned, "hey, that's a good thing, right?"  
  
"Puh, not really."  
  
"oh, well." I yanked Will in.  
  
When we walked in behind Jeff the tavern went completely silent.  
  
"Hey! New allies, everyone! Friend of my 'dear' cousin Jay." Jeff said, everyone laughed.  
  
"A friend of yours is a friend of ours! Have a beer kids!" Someone shouted from the back.  
  
I laughed. Will and I were ushered over to a long table, and Jeff sat at the end. Will went to one side and I went to the other, sitting down. A tall guy with curly dark blond hair sat down next to me, he shook the hair out of his deep blue eyes and smiled at me.  
  
"Hey, I'm Darian."  
  
"Hi, I'm Isabel, but please just call me Isa."  
  
He looked at me, laughter in his eyes, "Just call me Dar. I hate my name."  
  
"Really? I kind of like that name, honestly." I said, smiling.  
  
He couldn't answer me because plates were put in front of us, and I of course began stuffing myself with the delicious food. I was suddenly interupted by something hitting me hard in the head. I looked around for the thing that hit me in the head. I found a spoon on the bench and picked it up, looking around. Will was sitting a little down the table from me, looking way to innocent. I memorized where he was and threw the spoon hard, not even looking, I grabbed my spoon and start eating the soup again.  
  
"Did I just see that?" Dar asked, looking amazed.  
  
I didn't answer him immediatly but stuck out my hand, to catch the spoon Will had just thrown back at me.  
  
"He caught it, did he? Well, I'll just fake him out this time." I said, half to myself, half to Dar.  
  
I pretended to throw the spoon and Will put up his hand to catch it, then I really threw the spoon, hitting him accuratly in the head. The force knocked Will off the bench, he lay there for a minute and the room went silent, he then started laughing uncontrolably. I grinned and walked over to him helping him up. He said threats to me inbetween laughs.  
  
"Isa, hhehehehe, you'll, haha, pppaayyy...hehehehe, for this!! HAhaha."  
  
I looked at him and shook my head laughing. We sat back down and resumed eating acting like nothing had happened. People just stared at us for a minute, bewildered and then suddenly talk errupted again. Though Dar was still staring at me. After about 1 minute of staring I finally turned to him.  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"Where did you learn to aim like that?" He asked curiously.  
  
"Uhhh...er...my parents are over protective and they made us take lessons starting when we were 5 so that we could defend ourselves any way possible. And then of course Will and always fight each other, jokingly of course, but we're really close, we tell each other everything. People say that we have the same personality, and think alike. I guess we do because when ever I sneak around the pal- I mean our place Will and I always meet up in some secret place, even if we don't mean to... I guess we're just like that." I said, finishing it kind of sadly, I couldn't believe I almost let palace slip but we figured it be best if we didn't tell people who we were, not until tomorrow, at least.  
  
Dar gave me a curious look.  
  
"Yeah, my parents made me learn to defend myself too, but hey it might come useful one day." He shrugged.  
  
"Hey, Dar, you might not want to flirt with this one 'til you find out more about her." Jeff said, winking at me.  
  
I raised my eyebrows, giving him a 'ShutUP!' look. He took the hint and turned quickly to the person next to him, talking. I looked at Will and he nodded at flicked his head towards the door. I waved to Jeff and said goodbye to Dar.  
  
"Well we gotta go, see you around Dar." I said, walking out the door with Will right behind me.  
  
We walked down the dark street, our trained eyes looking in every shadow. I felt a prickling in my neck. I looked at Will, he nodded and I casually took out my two hidden daggers, which I always carried around. Hiding them in the folds in my dress, I pressed the blue stones embedded in them and felt the vines embedded around their hilts, which I always did before a fight.  
  
When a could arm snaked around my neck I was prepared, so was Will. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Y'all! This is Muddy! I wrote this chapter a while ago and finally uploaded it!  
The whole mindspeech thing is an idea that I got from Mercedes Lackey, I didn't make it up myself, but mine is a little different. Every time it's used, I use italic letters and the words are in '' those things. So, read, enjoy, and review, (I like to know what you think, so let yourself go, and have a ghettalicious time!)  
  
Chapter 4  
  
I brought my left hand up quickly, slicing the arm wrapped around my neck. I brought my right hand down and sliced the dagger across my attacker's leg. He cursed, and tried to grab his arm and leg at the same time, falling over. I kicked him in the face, wincing at the crunching noise his nose made. He passed out.  
  
"Isa! To you're left!" Will shouted.  
  
I turned quickly, slashing out with my left hand. My dagger cut in the side of the attacker's head, and he fell to the ground with a thump.  
  
"Back to back, Will!" I shouted.  
  
Will found my back, and we continued fighting, leaning against each other. Three masked people circled us.  
  
"Attack number 3, Will!" I said, over my shoulder.  
  
I sensed Will grinning as he counted out loud, "Oonnneee, Ttwwwooo... Three!"  
  
Our enemies braced themselves for an attack, but none came. They relaxed, confused. Then suddenly, we attacked, full force.  
  
I stabbed one man, and he knelt down, cutting my arm as he went. I knocked him out with the hilt of my dagger. I looked for the other man, but couldn't find him. I saw a glint of steel in the shadows.  
  
"Will! Watch out!" I yelled, and then I threw my knife, hearing a faint thump.  
  
Will killed his attacker, and I slowly walked over to the man in the shadows, pulling my dagger out of his body. I slowly wiped it off on his shirt. Then promptly, I threw up, Will not far behind me.  
  
I finally stopped, wiping my mouth on the sleeve of my ruined, bloody, dress. Will and I stood, looking surprised at the scene around us.  
  
"That was random." He stated.  
  
"Yeah. I guess we should go tell Jeff what happened." I said, sighing.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." Will said, shaking his head.  
  
Will and I walked closely together through the dark streets, amazed at the many events that had just happened.  
  
We finally arrived at the door of the Dancing Dove, and opened it slowly, walking in. The room fell silent at our grimy appearances. I looked down. Will and I both were covered in blood, and my arm gave a sharp sting, and I realized that it was bleeding freely. Will had a long cut running up his arm, from his hand. Although both of our daggers were put away, it was quite obvious that we had just been in a dirty fight.  
  
Jeff rushed over to us, concern on his face.  
  
"What in bloody 'ell, happened to you?" He practically shouted.  
  
"We were attacked on the way home by 7 men. They all should be dead." Will answered.  
  
"I knew I should have sent men after you, to make sure you were safe. It would have been my fault if you two were killed, and would most likely have resulted in a war against Tortal and Harding." He said furiously, under his breath.  
  
"Tom, John, and George, go clean up." Jeff ordered.  
  
Three large men got up, nodded, and left quickly.  
  
"Sit down, now." Jeff ordered.  
  
We obeyed, gladly.  
  
Dar came over with a perplexed look on his face.  
  
"You'll find out later," I said, before he could even speak.  
  
He nodded, " Well, at least let me heal you two."  
  
"I have healing power, but I can't heal myself, only others." I said.  
  
Dar nodded, and placed his hand on my arm, carefully. A blue light circled my arm, but then something weird happened. The green light of my gift suddenly sparkled around his blue. I felt a buzz of surprise course through me, that wasn't my own. Dar released my arm quickly. A thin, pink scar lay where the deep gash had been a moment before.  
  
We stared at each other in surprise. Healings usually took much longer, and my gift shouldn't have interfered, and I defiantly shouldn't have been able to feel Dar's surprise. I could tell he was thinking the same thing, but I didn't want to know how exactly I knew that.  
'Strange.' I thought.  
  
Will nodded, 'Yeah' He said in my head.  
  
'You can hear what I'm thinking?' I asked, almost afraid.  
  
'What? Yeah, Isa? I guess I can.' He said, surprised.  
  
'I think it's only when the thoughts are directed to you, I can "mindspeak" to Will, but I thought it was just a twin thing. Maybe there's certain people who have this power.' I "said" to Dar.  
  
'Yeah, I read about an ancient power called mindspeech, but no one has had it for thousands of years.. Until us, of course.' Dar answered, still in my head.  
  
We stared at each other, amazed.  
  
"HEELLOO!!! Someone needs some healing here, so sorry to interrupt you're love fest." Will said, pointing to his arm.  
  
"Will! Dar and I can mindspeech!" I whispered, taking his arm.  
  
"So can we, but it's weird that you two can. Maybe I can talk to Dar, too." He said, thinking.  
  
I started to heal his arm, but Dar took it away.  
  
'You're too tired.' He stated, in my head.  
  
'Yeah, Isa, you look horrible.' Will mindspoke.  
  
'Wow, I can talk to Dar too.' He said.  
  
'But I think it only works when you're thoughts are direct to us. Dar, try to only talk to Isa and block me out, if you can.'  
  
'Ok, I'm only trying to talk to you.' Dar said.  
  
'Could you hear that, Will?' I asked.  
  
'Nope, so it can be directed.' He said.  
  
"Hey! Kids! Wake up!" Jeff said, " You're so strange. You 3 just sat there staring at each other for 5 minutes. Isa, Will, I think you should get back, and go to sleep, early day tomorrow. I think we should separate you, so you're attackers don't try to kill you again. I'll take Will the back way, Dar, you take Isa the front way."  
  
Dar nodded, I stood up and followed him out the door, matching my steps to his. I stopped suddenly. Dar stopped too. I felt my knees buckle under me, and there was a sharp pain in my ankle, Dar caught me as I fell, and helped me to a near by doorstep. I sat down.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.  
  
"My leg, I think it's cut, or I twisted my ankle." I answered, biting my lip.  
  
Dar lifted up my skirt a little, taking of my shoe to reveal my ankle, which was swollen and many different purples, and greens. He gripped my ankle and began healing. My gift wrapped around his, but this healing was much more painful than the last. I was left with a normal ankle, but still gasping from the pain.  
  
"Thanks," I said, through my teeth.  
  
"Are you ok?" Dar asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Can you walk?" He asked.  
  
I nodded, getting up. I almost fell, but Dar caught me around the waist, and helped me stand, leaning against him. I put my arm around his shoulder for support.  
  
In this fashion we slowly made it to the house. I thanked Dar, and went inside. I went straight to my room, where a warm bath was waiting. I washed away all the dirt and changed into my nightshirt, falling instantly asleep, knowing that morning would come too soon. 


End file.
